>> good morning, everyone. welcome to urban update. i'm byron barnett. on the show this morning, city council election in chelsea. democracy is certainly in full spirit in southie as impressive numbers to run for city council. chelsea no longer has mayoral next-door in everett and revere. southie still has important positions on the city council and the school committee as well. voters will have an earl... four choices in early november.

candidate demali vidot and calvin brown and roy avellaneda. we will start out in alphabetical order. we devote one segment to'm of four candidates. we start with roy avellaneda today. welcome to urban update. i'm glad i can pronounce that name. >> yes, it is. let me begin, why are you running for city council? large on the city council in chelsea. you are former city council. why are you running again? >> byron, when i was coming out of college, we were at the time, coming out of receivership.

mayors being sent to jail. we were seeing how city government could be bad. at that point, i made a personal decision to say living in my city, i wanted to make a contribution. positive one and get involved. i really felt strongly about the participation. from that moment, i was basically, dedicating my adult life to participating from being a member of the planning board, being a district councilor, councilor at large, serving as a legislative aifd at the statehouse, working for mass dot as a program manager and currently, as a licensing board member. but also attending hundreds of community meetings and events since that time. communities engage. is one of the things i feel very strongly about. >> what, in your opinion, are two or three of the most

pressing issues facing chelsea residents the next few years? >> i believe number ones is impact of economic development. it is happening in the city of chelsea. we are seeing a large amount of economic development. we have to be careful about what the impact may be and the impact. there is crime and trying to reduce. that the opiates. the increased use of eniates opiates. heroin. and lastly, consistently improving city services in the city of chelsea. all that while balancing the tax burden that we put upon our commercial and residential owners. >> why do you think you would be a good representatives for chelsea in. >> i'm a chelsea kid, grown up and has a lot of experience as i mentioned.

side but also in private. and i believe that all of that experience gives me the opportunity to come up with some great ideas of how we can improve service in the city of chelsea. but more than anything else, it is my dedication... my city. >> you mentioned city services. what, if anything, are you planning to do to make city hall more proactive in providing city services? >> that is more of a mind-set as city councilor. i have always been proactive. i spent most of my time as a city councilor coming up with initiatives, rather than being reactive. i planned on sitting down with the city manager and the department heads to respond to the concerns of the residents. >> can you share any specific initiatives you will be spearheading? >> first and foremost, i'm looking to increase the residential tax exemption

provided to home owners. right now, it is only 20%. the state allows you to go up to 30. i would like to have that done. along with that, we are not seen any contributions by any of the development that's gone on since i have left. to the affordable housing trust fund. >> some alternate developments going on in the city. there are a number of issues. the "t," rent and housing always an issue. what is your take on these issues? and how you see them afebruarying chelsea. >> well, again, the sill veer line is a great project for the city of chelsea. i believe in improving transportation services to the city. ideally, i would like to see the expansion. we would love to see some sort of bike path, pedestrian bridge connecting chelsea with boston. so that we can allow people to bike to boston or walk to boston. and so i think that we need to

continue to go down that road. >> the city has a latino presence, as everyone knows. some say there is an effort to diversify the workforce. >> i'm in regular city officials. as i walk through the corridors of city hall, there there. and also on the police department and the fire department. soy think the city administration has done a good job of having latinos hired as part of it. i believe we do have a currently diverse workforce. >> okay. we will live it right there. roy avellaneda, one of six city council candidates. running for three sets in chelsea. thank you for coming. in good luck on the campaign trail. >> thank you very much. >> okay. when we come back, chelsea city councilor and incumbent

urban update. >> the city of chelsea has important positions to be filled on the city council in the next general election in november. today we are looking at the city councilor at large choices. the remaining two candidates show. alphabetical order. incumbent councilor calvin brown. calvin, welcome to urban >> thank you. >> okay. with you. why are you running for your... >> yes. >> on the city council in 36 yeah.

i'm ready. this is a great city. i have been in chelsea for the past 14 years as an elected official and appointed official in chelsea. i want to continue to work and help chill sale grow and be able to work with our new city manager. i believe this is right time for me to seek reelection. >> okay. now, in your opinion, what are the two or three most important issues, pressing issues for chelsea in the copping years? >> i think one of them is reefing awareness on drugs. drugs ruin people's lives. we are just working with the city manager now to try to get people some help and into programs. drugs is something that is hurting our city.

>> okay. what makes you a good representatives, in swrour view,, your background, for being city councilor and representing the people of chelsea in. >> i think dedication i have showed over the years... the commitment i have had for the city of chelsea, prior to being an elected official, very active in the pto, the parent-teacher organization in chelsea as a president, over these years, i have learned to build relationships with local clergiy, nonprofit organizations, departments and directors. the administration in chelsea. i know how to get around things and get things done and find out how to improve our community. >> what about city services and mains nance? what are you going to do to make the city more prok aive? >> that is a good question. lately, what we have been doing, in chelsea, we are out front. we have community meetings. sometimes we have them twice a

we have them in different neighborhoods, different sectors, different neighborhoods in our community. different problems. and one of the things that i have been really advocating for is the police, the work with local residents and the business owners to come together and find out exactly what we are trying to fight, what we are trying to get rid of and what we are trying to accomplish. >> okay. can we share any specific initiatives that you would be spearheading? >> it's pretty hard. you know, some duties of the city councilor, we are pretty much like a liaison to the community. we have a form of government where the city manager manages day-to-day operations. we try to go find out what the concerns of the neighborhoods are. the business community, try to work in collaboration to make things happen. and do things right. >> what are the priorities you would be pushing? >> the priorities obviously,

obviously. there are some concerns on some of the residents. we feel that by bringing the silver line, not only do you get a chance to bring additional folks to our community. we sit down with the city manager and my elected body members to figure out what we can do to present ideas for chelsea. >> what about rent and housing on the rise? like so many other cities that are close to boston. i guess, what is your take on this development and the rise in rent and housing, affecting the city in. >> well, i think new development is a great thing for chelsea. you know, because of the winham, because of the that has helped sustain our that helped enhance our community. we can actually go after grant

and improve our community. folks come in now and property is valued at $400,000. whereas in 2005, that same property was valued at $180,000. that is tough for our community. we don't have a lot of folks who can sustain those type of monthly charges. >> how do you guard against gentryification so these people don't get pushed out by the yuppies, the professionals that come in when the rents and housing kohs get pushed up. how do you keep housing affordable for the people who live there? >> well, i'm a big supporter of affordable housing. i'm working with groups, neighborhood developers. we need more affordable housing in chelsea. sometimes we come up with a lot of advocacy against it. and we understand folks want

to keep the fabric of the community. because we have a community of neighborhoods, certain neighborhoods don't want a lot of affordable housing. i think chelsea really needs additional housing. >> i guess the city his an enormous latino presence. some believe the city should do more to diversify its workforce. do you agree with that prem snis. >> absolutely. my wife, by the way, the latina. she is from puerto rico. we have been married for 7 years. we have lovely kids. i truly support. that i think we need more. to be honest, since i have been a city councilor, i'm not seeking all the credit here. i have spoken to the city manager. we continue to hire those qualified. we look to chelsea residents. we look for diversity. >> okay. we willley it right there. calvin brown. a candidate for city council. a current member of the city council.

trying to get your 7th-term. >> yes. thank you. >> when we come back, chelsea city councilor at large candidate todd taylor. right here on urban update. stay with us. we'll be right back. with hood, cottage cheese can be pineapple on a waffle.

or cucumber and dill as a dip. with 8 delicious flavors of hood cottage cheese, the possibilities are endless. always good. always hood. >> up next, as we continue in alphabetical order is a candidateed to taylor. thank you for coming in. your positions are not normally partisan are. they? >> no. >> they are not. let's start by asking you about why you are running for city counselor n chelsea. >> well, chelsea is a city in transition, i think.

we just had a longtime city manager going out, jay ash who today great job in trying to bring chelsea along. and we have a new city manager now. and i want to make sure that chelsea continues its kind ofst, you know, development, as a city. and really gain some texture and prosperous place to li. >> what, in your view, are the three most pressing issues that chelsea residents will be facing over the next two years? >> people have told me without a doubt, the number one issue in chelsea is public... the

drug problem in massachusetts in general, and really the country, is really one that is one of the most pressing problems that we have. and it needs to be dealt with. and you know, it is not an easy problem to solve. a lot of different things need to be done. we are doing a lot of those now. but i think we need to redouble our efforts. >> what, in your view, makes you a good representative for the residents in chelsea in. >> well, i have always been kind of a doer in life. boston. which i started ago at as a waiter and a bartender 16 years ago. from being a water and bartender to bag banquet captain to manager, general manager and finding out i was company. so i know how to get things done. don't talk a lot.

done. >> everyone always talks about city services in chelsea. what are you planning to do to make city hall more proactive, more responsive to the needs of citizens and providing so forth. >> well, i mean, i think the best thing to do is as a city councilor, to be transparent and to be available to people. so i think that if you were accessible, for instance, when i go out knocking on doors, i give them my calling card, i have my own cell phone number on it. i want people to call me. i want to be in touch with people. if there is a problem, we need to know about it. that is a problem in the city, too. sometimes we don't get that feedback from people. we engage the community. >> can you talk about specific

>> well, i think that for the most part, we want to bring nor commerce to chelsea. chelsea needs to be more prosperous as well as a safer place to live. you know, there is a lot of development going on right now. but to bring more commerce to the city, not just residential development, it broadens out the tax base for people. you know, it gives relief on some of those rent issues. >> you talk about development. what about, i guess, the silver lining coming through there? how do you think it would impact chelsea and how do you max news positive benefits of that? also, what about the housing and rent that are continuing to go up. that is always an issue. what is your take on those? >> yeah. you know, the silver line is a great thing for chelsea. the more coming and going is good. we want people coming into

chelsea. we have recently built a lot of the hotels. i think we are going to have people coming here. we need to really provide more things to do in chelsea. and make it a real good place to live and play. >> the city has enormous latino presence. some have said that the city should do more to diversify its own workforce. do you agree with that? any ideas on how you would do it? >> well, i would say this. you know, as an employer myself, i find the larger pool of people i have, the better people are going to come to yeah. i think that the city, you the people. and we need to make sure that we reach out to everybody and make sure that they have all to questioning those

>> todd taylor. thank you for coming in to urban update. good luck. >> thank you very much. >> when we come back, demali vidot right here on urban

>> this morning, we have been taking a closer look at the upcoming city elections in chelsea. on the show this morning, we are chatsing with four of the six candidates for at-large city councilor spot. and next week, we feature the remaining two candidates. we conclude with candidates

demali vidot. welcome. thank you for coming in. >> good morning. thank you for having me. >> i have been asking everyone the same question. why are you running for city council? this is your first run for public office? >> this is my first run for public offers. i'm a lifelong residents. i'm a home owner. small business owner. and the mom of a nine-year-old. i started going to city meetings a year ago. i started to see a disconnect between residents and city officials. i started picking up on a variety of issues. quality of life issues, mostly. i started talking to residents. they felt there was an underrepresentation. i thought it would be a good opportunity to throw my name in the runningment. >> okay. in your view, what are the two or three most important pressing issues you think that are important to residents. >> we have development and the

displacement of longtime... long-term residents. development with regards to parking issues and traffic and also we have fast huge substance abuse problem in chelsea. we want to try to move our city in a better direction. >> i went through a rough patch as a teenager. i worked as a youth worker. working with young people going through the same rough patch. i became mother. i became a whole owner. ... a home owner. because of my uniquers appearance, i have a unique ability to be able to connect

life. and you know, just being able to represent people. >> what about city services? what would you do to make city hall more proactive in residents? >> i think that's a... we need government transparency. there isn't a lot of transparency. if we as a city were more open and shared more information with the public about the things that were going on and people were more involved, then we could each hold each other accountable on the many issues that we have. >> what about the specific initiative? you yourself might be spear he can you share any of those? i do think it's important to have more community engagement. we need more government transparency. and i would like to figure out what way we can do that.

with want to keep residents aware of the happenings in the city. also, i'm big on youth involvement. that is something i feel we are also lacking. it would be nice to establish a council so we can have something at the high school where young people can be engaging in the community. >> what about... i guess, again, you have been talking about development. there is a silver line coming through there. also the concern about rent and housing. and the whole issue of gentryification. what is your take on that? >> i am... that is one of the issues that hits home for me. i know so many people that have lived in chelsea for so many years. the rise in rent and property taxes. i'll also for development. we need to do it in a way that is transparent and i see a lot of people coming from boston

longer afford living in boston. while we welcome them with open arms. we need to be able to consider our residents so they are not kicked out of our city. >> what about the new silver line? what can you do to maximize the positives? >> traffic is sometimes gridlock. so many projects going on. so many developments. i don't know. as city councilor, i would do whatever i can and get creative and look at that model to figure out how to handle the situation. >> the city, as we are been discussing, has an enormous latino presence. some say the city should do more to diversify the workforce. do you agree with that? premise? >> i absolutely agree.

this country. ... representing this community. i think we need more involvement. not diversity just in terms of your ethnicity but age, gender. me, being a young mother brings a unique perspective to the city council. like i said, represent the average joe and joanne. >> okay. thank you. six candidates. three slots. we will hear from two more of them next week. thanks for coming in. >> thank you so much. >> good luck on the campaign trail. that is it for this editionle of urban update. joan joy the day. don't forget, the patriots take on the indianapolis colts on football night in america. for everyone here, i'm byron barnett for urban update. have a great sunday and go